Kelowna Arsons

The Kelowna fire department had to bring in extra resources to cover for them after four fires kept crews busy until the early morning hours Saturday. Three of the fires are considered suspicious in nature.

The Fire timeline:

7:47 p.m. Friday; crews responded to a report of a tractor on fire inside a garage. Two engines, one rescue, one command vehicle and 11 firefighters responded. The fire was contained to the garage. The fire cause is not considered suspicious. Damage estimate is yet to be determined.

11:54 p.m. Friday; crews were called to a church in the 1100 block of Springfield Rd for a report of flames on the outside of the building. Three engines, one rescue, one command vehicle and 15 firefighters responded. Damage was contained primarily to the exterior of the building where the fire appears to have originated in a garbage bin. This fire is suspicious and investigators from the Kelowna Fire Department and RCMP continue their investigation. Damage estimate is yet to be determined.

12:41 a.m. Saturday; crews responded to a report of a building on fire in the rear of 325 Banks Road. Initially, three engines, one rescue, one command vehicle and 15 firefighters responded. Upon arrival at the scene, crews determined that the fire was quickly extending into the main building which houses a carpet store.Additional resources, including two ladder trucks and additional engines, command staff, paid-on-call and off-duty staff were called to the scene.At the height of the fire, over 40 firefighters worked to save neighbouring businesses, including those directly connected to the fire building, separated by a firewall that prevented the spread of fire.This fire appears to have originated at the rear of the building and is deemed as suspicious.Crews remain on scene at this hour dealing with multiple hot spots. Banks Road and Baron Road remain closed. Investigators from the Kelowna Fire Department and RCMP continue their investigation. Damage estimate is yet to be determined.

At 3:20 a.m. crews responded to a report of a fire behind a building in the 400 block of Banks Road. Two engines and eight firefighters responded and quickly contained the fire to garbage bins and nearby pallets before it had a chance to spread to nearby buildings. This fire is suspicious and investigators from the Kelowna Fire Department and RCMP continue their investigation. Damage estimate is yet to be determined.

Jason Brolund, Kelowna deputy fire chief, says, “Additional staff and fire apparatus were staged throughout the city to maintain coverage overnight. We wish to thank the West Kelowna Fire Department for the deployment of an additional fire engine to cover the downtown core, which was requested under the region’s Mutual Aid agreement.”

Brolund says several agencies worked together during the fires to help those in need and to control the situation.

“The Kelowna Fire Department was assisted this evening by the RCMP, BC Ambulance Service and City Utility crews. We also wish to thank the volunteers from the Salvation Army who quickly responded with food, water and refreshments for the fire fighting staff.”

Anyone with information regarding the fires overnight is encouraged to contact the RCMP immediately.